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A top Russian banker and associate of President Vladimir Putin has accused the “American elite” of waging a political witch hunt against Donald Trump that leaves the two nuclear-armed powers in a “very dangerous” situation. Andrei Kostin, chief executive of VTB, the state-controlled bank that is Russia’s second largest, said the “madhouse” in Washington was thwarting any chance of improvement in east-west relations for the foreseeable future. (FT)

In the news

Temer digs inBrazil’s president has rejected bribery charges and said his ruling coalition remains firm enough to pass pivotal pension and fiscal reforms. “Not one party has come to me saying they won`t support me,” he told foreign correspondents. (FT)

British political leaders scrutinisedTheresa May and Jeremy Corbyn survived the Jeremy Paxman treatment in live television interviews ahead of the June 8 general election. Mrs May was pressed on her numerous U-turns and Mr Corbyn was asked to explain his foreign policy stance around terrorism. (FT)

Amazon’s British rebuffUsers of the Prime Video service in the UK hoping to avoid the UK’s TV licence fee will be disappointed. On top of other charges, subscribers must pay the £147 annual tariff, as do those using the BBC’s own iPlayer. (FT)

BA’s IT woesBritish Airways is under pressure to explain how it mishandled an IT outage over the weekend that left 75,000 passengers stranded. Its chief executive, Alex Cruz, has apologised but insisted he would not resign. (FT, BBC)

Japanese female imperial boostA new draft resolution by the country’s ruling and opposition parties considers allowing women to retain their imperial status if they marry a commoner, at a time of dwindling numbers in the family. (NAR)

US banks hit the brakesBig banks are throttling back from the $1.2tn US car loan market on fears consumers have taken on more debt than they can handle. Lenders piled into the sector following the financial crisis as mortgages soured, but recent data show the first sequential drop in car loans outstanding at commercial banks in at least six years. (FT)

The day ahead

Modi visits Spain Narendra Modi will visit Spain in the first official visit by an Indian prime minister in almost three decades.

Keep up with the important business, economic and political stories in the coming days with the FT’s Week Ahead.

What we’re reading

Trump’s secret habitAt around 10.30 most mornings, President Donald Trump sits down for his classified intelligence briefing. He demands brevity from his briefers, asks questions, pores over maps, charts and “killer graphics” and always has a Diet Coke to hand. (WaPo)

Death of a dictatorManuel Noriega, the former ruler of Panama who was a double agent for the CIA and Fidel Castro, has died aged 83. A symbol of US supported leaders seen as buffers against communism in the 1980s, he was arrested with the help of loud rock music in 1989 during Operation Just Cause and imprisoned for drug trafficking. (FT, NYT)

Angela Merkel, Donald Trump and the end of the WestAfter Angela Merkel’s warning that Europeans must “really take our destiny into our own hands”, the FT’s Gideon Rachman argues “it is a mistake to allow four months of the Trump presidency to throw into doubt a Transatlantic alliance that has kept the peace in Europe for 70 years”. (FT)

Rome mourns after Totti’s final gameFrancesco Totti’s last game in an AS Roma shirt is seen as yet another knock for the city as it struggles against rubbish in the streets and a sputtering economy. (NYT)

Sharing with Chinese characteristicsThe sharing economy trend has taken root in China with everything from basketballs to umbrellas on offer, but its adoption in the country has taken a mercantile twist with venture capital rather than citizens taking the spoils. (FT)

How Ramadan brings the joys of cooking into focusMany of the world’s 1.6bn Muslims began fasting on Saturday as part of Ramadan. When they eat after the sun goes down — and before it rises again — their food is imbued with an added meaning. (NYT)

Video of the day

Northern Ireland: a clash of two unionsThe Brexit referendum has thrown the constitutional future of the UK into doubt. In Northern Ireland, that question goes to the heart of the forthcoming election. Vincent Boland reports from the border with the Irish Republic. (FT)